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2011 buick regal Reviews and News

As soon as Joachim Winkelhock burst out of the pits and toward Hatzenbach, it was clear that this was not going to be one of those tame exercises where a racing driver leads a procession of journalists at a funereal pace around the track, trying to familiarize them with every corner and desired racing line in a boring game of follow-the-leader. There was no time for such formalities, since the Nordschleife was booked and we were squeezing our drives into someone's lunch hour. Not to mention the fact that the 'Ring has some seventy-three turns and is thirteen miles around. Winkelhock's voice came crackling over the two-way radio with these simple instructions: "Try to stay close to me and follow my line as best you can." And with that, I followed Winkelhock's Opel Insignia OPC performance sedan out onto the track in a four-cylinder Buick.

A Buick? On the Nordschleife? As comical as that notion might be, the new Buick Regal was surprisingly good in this unlikeliest of environments, and I wasn't even driving the sportiest version. Body control, directional stability, brake pedal feedback, and steering feel were, if not to the level of the BMW 3-series, fully up to the job of very spirited laps, and the eighteen-inch Michelin Pilot MXM4 tires weren't overly tasked. Sure, I had to flog the modest, 182-hp, 2.4-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine and furiously bang the six-speed automatic gearbox's lever up and down its manual shift gate between second and fourth gears, and the fastest speed I could summon on the long straight heading into Tiergarten, where serious racing cars approach 200 mph, was only 120 mph. But I had my best laps ever at the Nordschleife in this, my fourth visit. For that, I equally credit Winkelhock's intimate knowledge of the track - he is a two-time winner of the Nürburgring's twenty-four-hour race - and the Regal's impressive chassis composure.

That chassis is a familiar one, as the Regal is based on GM's global Epsilon II architecture, and the first year's production for the States is being built at GM's Rüsselsheim, Germany, plant alongside the highly regarded, Epsilon-based Opel Insignia. We'll have to wait until mid-2011 - when Regal production moves to Oshawa, Ontario - for a production version of the high-performance Regal GS that debuted at this year's Detroit auto show and that promises to be as fun to drive as the Insignia OPC. Unlike that car, which has a 321-hp, turbocharged V-6, our GS will get a version of GM's Ecotec turbo four making at least 255 hp. "I intend to wring every bit of power out of it that I can," claims Regal chief engineer Jim Federico. For now, a tamer version of the Ecotec making 220 hp arrives in August mated to an Aisin six-speed automatic (the 2.4-liter's gearbox is a GM-built Hydra-Matic). An optional six-speed manual follows this fall. The last time Buick offered a manual transmission was so long ago that no one at the company seems to remember when it was.

Interestingly, Buick benefited from GM's bankruptcy and Saturn's demise, as the next-generation Saturn Aura instead became this Buick Regal. The Aura was slated to get the 2.4-liter four as its base engine along with an optional V-6, and at the same time, Federico was tweaking the 2.0-liter Ecotec turbo for the Saab 9-5. A newly lean GM certainly wasn't going to let all that good engineering go to waste.

"For people who ask, 'where's my V-6?' " advises Federico in regard to the turbo four, "It's here." After two hours driving a Regal CXL 2.0T on the autobahn, we'd say that's not much of a stretch. The direct-injected engine mates brilliantly to the six-speed automatic and eagerly raced toward the 6350-rpm redline as we mixed it up with BMWs and Audis at up to 130 mph, yet it was spinning at a relatively calm 3500 rpm at 112 mph. Not for one moment did we wish for six cylinders under the hood.

There's not a lot to wish for here, actually. The Regal's interior is quite nicely designed and finished but still falls slightly short of Volkswagen standards. And you might have a hard time getting past the Buick badge, although the sculpted sheetmetal - also done in Germany, but by a British designer - ought to ameliorate that concern. Buick sales chief Craig Bierley has his work cut out for him, though, because "sporty Buick" has heretofore been an oxymoron.

You might wish for the Regal GS to arrive sooner, but the CXL 2.0T, which starts at $29,495, equipped with the $1250 IDCS (Interactive Drive Control System) gets you close. IDCS provides "sport" and "tour" buttons on the center console; allows you to custom-program steering feel, throttle and gearshift patterns, and other dynamic settings; and includes continuous damping control (CDC), which tightens damper rebound for a tauter ride.

That said, I'd like to be first behind the wheel of a Regal GS - which in addition to the power bump will get all-wheel drive and further brake and suspension upgrades - on the Nordschleife. After riding in the back seat of an OPC sedan that was being pushed to its limits around the 'Ring by Winkelhock, I know that there's an even better Buick on the way.

Over the past decade, as GM's fortunes in North America declined, its sales in China grew from 31,794 cars in 2000 to 1,826,424 in 2009. Buick has been instrumental in that success and now sells four times as many cars in China-447,011 in 2009-than in the States. In fact, the Regal was introduced in China first, in late 2008, and GM has already sold more than 100,000 of them there. Whereas we have four Buick models, China has seven, ranging in price from $14,000 to $87,000 (for a loaded Enclave) and including a version of GM's old "dust-buster" minivan called the GL8 that has been successfully marketed as a chauffeur vehicle. The average age of Buick customers is about thirty-two years, half what it is here, and the brand enjoys residual prestige from the pre-Revolution days, when it was a favorite of emperors and other political leaders.

At a spacious and modern Buick dealership in the Beijing suburbs, Gao Yu, 25, explained that she bought her bright red Regal, which matched her bright red coat, because it was "safe and fashionable." She paid 230,000 RMB ($33,700) in cash; financing is rare. Xu Zhijun, a 41-year-old finance analyst for a construction company, got his first driver's license only a year ago and was bringing in his LaCrosse, for which he paid $41,000, also in cash, for service. David Shi, Buick's marketing chief for China, was on hand to give us his own personal perspective: "When I started working in 1982," he recalled, "my fondest hope was that my wife and I might someday have nicer bicycles-ones with 28-inch wheels. I never dreamed I would have a car." Now he has three: an Enclave for himself, a LaCrosse for his wife, and a Chevy Cruze for his son.

Today was the fourth time I've driven on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the famously challenging, 13-mile racetrack in the Eifel Mountains of Germany. I had only two laps, but they were among the best I've had there, and they were in the unlikeliest of cars: the new 2011 Buick Regal. Yep, a Buick at the 'Ring. Who woulda thunk?

This was Automobile Magazine's first time behind the wheel of a production-spec version of the new Regal, which is now rolling off the assembly line at GM's Opel plant in Russelsheim, Germany, and goes on sale in May. The Regal is the product of a global vehicle-development program headed up by GM veteran engineer Jim Federico that already has produced the Buick LaCrosse for both the United States and China and the Regal for China, where it went on sale more than a year ago. The Regal is built on the latest version of the Epsilon platform that also underpins the Chevy Malibu and the Opel Insignia and was largely designed and engineered by GM's Opel unit, but the Detroit-based Federico orchestrated the entire development process, so this is nothing like the Opel Astra that was handed over to the now-defunct Saturn division with a batch of replacement badges that were to magically transform it into a Saturn. Nope, the 2011 Buick Regal is much more than that.

What it is, it turns out, is a very well tuned, near-luxury sport sedan that, in terms of sheer driving pleasure, surpasses anything else in its class made in Detroit these days, not to mention imports like the Acura TSX and the Lexus ES350. Federico and his eager team in Russelsheim have done their homework. After all, this chassis was also until recently intended to serve as the basis for the next-generation Saab 9-5 and, in fact, the Regal was originally supposed to be the next-generation Saturn Aura in North America. Those plans were scuttled when GM put Saturn up for sale in the midst of its 2009 bankruptcy, but since Buick was given a new lease on life in the States, it needed new product and the Epsilon platform team was happy to oblige.

With many miles of development testing at both Opel's Dudenhofen proving ground and at the Nurburgring, the Regal emerged as a surprisingly fun sedan that has little in common with your grandmother's Buick. GM has gone in a new direction with the Regal's powertrains; there's no V-6, only two direct-injection, four-cylinder engines, but believe it or not there will be an optional manual transmission, the first shift-for-yourself gearbox in a Buick in decades, starting sometime this fall.

The base engine, a 2.4-liter four making 182 hp, is mated to a six-speed automatic. The gearbox gets a gold star, but the 2.4-liter gets only a passing grade. For your average driver making an average commute over average roads, it will be just fine, but it runs out of breath at higher speeds and doesn't sound great when you push it.

A much better choice is coming in August: a turbocharged version of GM's 2.0-liter Ecotec four-cylinder making 220 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. This engine is not just better than the 2.4-liter; it's a LOT better. It's worth the wait and the $2500 premium, and it suffers only a one-mpg penalty compared with the base engine. Although the 2.0-liter turbo hasn't yet been rated by the EPA, Federico expects it to get 19 city, 29 highway, versus the 2.4-liter's 20/30 rating.

The 2.0-liter turbo four works exceptionally well across its rev range and mates brilliantly with the six-speed automatic. There is a manual shift gate for the gearbox, but no paddles. On the freeway, there's plenty of torque for most situations if you just leave it in Drive; I had no problem accelerating between 80 and 130 mph on the Autobahn, and the engine sounded like it would be happy to maintain triple-digit speeds all day. For those of us who kvetched for years that GM couldn't -- or simply wouldn't -- make a decent four-cylinder engine, the turbo Ecotec is especially satisfying. Dipping into the throttle over and over again as our entourage raced back toward Wiesbaden as the sun set over vast fields of blooming rapeseed, I couldn't quite get over the fact that I was driving a Buick that was running in the fast-moving flow of BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes-Benzes, and yet I didn't feel the least bit deprived. The engine gladly races toward its 6500-rpm redline whenever it's summoned, but it settles into a relatively modest 3500-rpm thrum at 110 mph. The brakes had good pedal feel and suffered no fade over repeated hard Autobahn use.

As for the Nurburgring drive, I drew the short straw and was delegated to a 2.4-liter car rather than a turbo model. That was the bad news. The good news was, I played follow-the-leader with Joachim Winkelhock, a former winner at Le Mans and a two-time winner of the Nurburgring 24-hour race. Following his racing line as closely as I could, I had a blast in the Buick and was amazed by the Regal's body control, brake pedal modulation, and overall composure, even if I had to cane the 2.4-liter without mercy to keep up with the pro leading the way. Meaty 18-inch tires provided good grip, and yet the Regal's on-road ride was supple, even with the optional 19-inch rubber.

I'd love to go back to the 'Ring in a Regal with the 2.0-liter turbo and the optional IDCS (Interactive Drive Control System), which costs $1250 and provides "sport" and "touring" buttons on the center console and also allows you to custom-program steering feel, throttle and gearshift patterns, and other dynamic settings. Continuous damper control (CDC) is part of this package and retards damper rebound for a tighter ride.

That 'Ring drive might have to wait for the even hotter version of the Regal that's on the drawing board. Likely to be labeled the Regal GS, this future variant (think mid-2011) will get a tuned version of the 2.0-liter four. How tuned? Federico only will say "I intend to wring every bit of power out of it that I can" without unduly compromising fuel economy or the "balance" that he thinks a Buick needs. With standard all-wheel drive, beefed-up brakes and suspension, sport seats, and a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, the Regal GS might just give the Audi S4 something to worry about next year. If the GS is as good a car as the European-market Opel Insignia OPC that is the inspiration for its development team -- and which Winkelhock gave me a hot lap in at the 'Ring -- we really have something to look forward to.

Disappointments? The Regal's interior is handsome, well-designed, and a huge leap over Buicks of the recent past, but it lacks the pizzazz of the new LaCrosse interior, and its plastics fall a bit short of those in not only cars like the Volkswagen Passat but even the Hyundai Genesis. The seats are very comfortable and supportive, though, and the back seat is reasonably roomy. The center console lid can get in the way of your elbow and wrist if you're shifting the manual gate; flipping it open and back helps alleviate this but is hardly an ideal solution. And with an asking price of just under $30,000, the turbo four-cylinder model isn't cheap, although it does come quite well equipped. The 2.4-liter starts at about $27,000, and for the 2012 model year, once North American Regal production shifts to GM's Oshawa, Ontario, plant, a model undercutting the CXL will be introduced; one assumes it will come in at less than $25,000.

Those quibbles aside, the Regal, a nameplate that not long ago was synonymous with GM mediocrity, is now a symbol for what GM can do right, and do well.

The Buick Regal has been one of the best selling of all Buick models through the years. This midsized sedan has been a favorite in the United States and has won many awards abroad as well. The newest Regal model is a using a shorter wheelbase than in the past and this causes tighter quarters in the back seat but there is still plenty of leg room. Through all the changes going on at GM the Buick brand is now back and it seems stronger than ever.

The new Regal is going to be marketed as Buicks sports sedan and this may mean that there are many more changes coming to this classic from Buick before we see it in 2011. One thing is for sure and that is that the Regal will still be a very important part of the Buick family of automobiles, but it may look a lot different after it undergoes some cosmetic changes and maybe even a complete overhaul under the hood. The new release of the Buick Regal is said to personify the new upscale image that Buick is trying to uphold, the changes may be drastic.

A partnership between General Motors and car-sharing service RelayRides was announced today – one that will allow owners of GM vehicles to more easily rent their OnStar-equipped vehicles to other users of the service. RelayRides, a car-sharing marketplace that gives owners the ability to rent out their personal cars when not in use, will team up with GM to make all OnStar-enabled models ready for use in the service. The program is scheduled for launch in early 2012, and will be GM’s first foray into car-sharing.

Buick may not have the racing panache of Chevrolet or the late Pontiac, but don’t count it out of the race: the marque fielded a 2012 Regal GS sport sedan in this weekend’s Silver State Classic Challenge in Nevada, and walked away with first prize in its class.

General Motors recorded an 18-percent year-over-year sales increase in August 2011, ending the month at 218,479 total sales. All of GM’s brands saw year-over-year volume increases. Once again, the Chevrolet Cruze led the charge with huge sales success. Sales of cars were up 18 percent year-over-year, sales of crossovers were up 17 percent, and truck sales rose 18 percent compared to August 2010.

Warranty

Recalls

Recall Date

12-31-1969:21:35:21

Component

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TURN SIGNAL

Summary

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Buick Regal and model year 2013 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with two turn signal bulbs in each front turn signal. If one of the two front turn signal bulbs burn out in either front turn signal lamp, there is no indication to the driver. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Consequences

If the driver is not aware that a turn signal is not functioning properly, the driver may continue to drive the vehicle. If half of a front turn signal is not illuminating, other driver's may not be aware that the affected vehicle is turning, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

GM will notify owners, dealers will update the body control module software, free of charge. The recall began in September 2014. Owners may contact Buick at 1-800-521-7300 or Chevrolet at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 12212.

Potential Units Affected

120,426

Notes

General Motors LLC

Recall Date

12-31-1969:21:35:40

Component

SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:POWER ADJUST

Summary

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Buick LaCrosse, Regal and Chevrolet Camaro, as well as certain 2010-2012 Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles, equipped with power height adjustable driver and passenger seats. In the affected vehicles, the bolt that secures the driver's and passenger's power front seat height adjuster may fall out causing the seat to drop suddenly to the lowest vertical position.

Consequences

If the driver's seat unexpectedly drops, the distraction and altered seat position may affect the drivers' control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the height adjuster shoulder bolts, free of charge. The manufacturer distributed interim letters to owners on September 11, 2014. The recall began on December 26, 2014. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac), 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), or 1-800-462-8782 (GMC). GM's number for this recall is 14271.